


Not-So-Secret Secret Relationship

by Slavito



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-08-16
Updated: 2012-08-16
Packaged: 2017-11-12 06:27:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/487734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slavito/pseuds/Slavito
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dash enlists Star to help him get "something" for "someone" with some unintended, but inevitable, consequences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. So Last Century

**Author's Note:**

> Written for my friend Cheese who is a huge Swagger Bishie fan! He gave it his seal of approval and requested I share. So, here we are. I apologize for any OOC-ness. I certainly tried my best! There might be more one shots associated with this one, so, we'll see. Please enjoy!

"What exactly are we doing here, anyway?" Star asked curiously as she placed a hand on her hip while Dash carded through racks of clothes. It was four thirty on a Friday afternoon. She would much rather be shopping with Paulina, but Dash had cornered her earlier in the day and all but begged her to come gift shopping with him. He had been secretive about the whole affair and had such a look of desperation on his face, glancing nervously over his shoulder over at the others, that Star had agreed, if only for curiosity's sake.

So there she was on a Friday, willingly shopping for someone she didn't even know. She had to admit, the whole situation seemed weird. "You never told me who we were shopping for, by the way, Dash. If I knew, I might actually, you know, be of help." They were in the men's section, but not the sort of department where Dash would normally get his clothes. That meant they probably weren't shopping for Kwan or anyone else from the sport teams. Could it have been a brother or a cousin or something? But Dash never really talked about family much, so, maybe not.

But if not for a friend and not for a relative, then who could it be?

Dash stopped in his search as he cleared his throat. "Oh, you know, someone." Well then. An answer like that all but screamed out "I've got an incredibly juicy secret that I hope no one will ever figure out because it could ruin me, socially!" Oh, Star was not going to let this one go now.

"Dash, give me a break, would you? You asked me out here to help you find a gift. If you won't tell me who, maybe you can tell me the occasion? Believe me, nothing sucks more than getting an I'm-sorry gift when an I-messed-up-but-it-was-mostly-your-fault-but-I-would-never-admit-that gift is really more important. Paulina says a gift is a gift as long as it's sufficiently expensive enough, but I think there really is a difference. I mean, one time, I-"

"Anniversary," Dash provided, nonchalantly, as he continued to look through the shirts, stopping on a T-shirt for some TV show or another. At least, he was trying to be nonchalant, but he was gripping the hanger so tightly his knuckles were nearly white.

Star stopped speaking immediately, looking at her friend, utterly dumbfounded.

Like, what?

She opened her mouth a few times to speak, but could not form anything coherently. She had to have misunderstood him. There was just no way that Dash of all people could have kept something like that from his own friends! She laughed nervously as she found her voice. "So…an…an anniversary. Like, your parents, or…"

Dash stopped, glancing over at her, seriously. That was not an expression he wore often outside of games. Star instinctively took a step back. "No. Mine."

Star held out her hands. "Hey, look. I'm not going to judge you or anything. But, ahm, I'm just a little surprised." Star wasn't upset, so that much wasn't a lie. She just never pegged Dash Baxter to be the secret Romeo type. "You never mentioned having a girlfriend before," she said, moving to stand beside Dash, looking through the racks of t-shirts as she casually tossed blond hair over her shoulder.

"I don't."

For a brief moment she paused. Suddenly, a lot of things started to click into place. She glanced around them. Teen guy's clothing store. Right. She returned to looking at the clothes, pulling one out, glancing it over. Who in their school would wear something like this?

Silence fell between the two of them. Dash stuck close to Star, glancing at her on occasion, seeming to be expecting some sort of response. Star wanted to say something, but suddenly found she had nothing to say. What was she supposed to say? She had a thousand questions, sure, but none of them seemed appropriate or all that important. Star might have a reputation of being blunt, but that did not mean she wasn't capable of being nice to her friends. The conversation had been short, but its importance hung heavy in the air.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Dash finally asked, having grown frustrated with the protracted silence. Patience was never his specialty. "Look, I know you're probably angry, but don't just stand there ignoring me."

Star rolled her eyes. "Don't be dumb, Dash. I'm not ignoring you, I'm thinking." She took one of the t-shirts and put it against Dash's chest, clicking her tongue slightly in distaste. Honestly, who would wear things like this? "Believe it or not, I am so not a miracle worker. You asked me to help you find a gift for your anniversary but you haven't even told me what your…" ok, Star, time to be supportive, but not condescending, "boyfriend is into." Flawless! "Not all boys are the same you know. What one likes, another might hate." She hoped, anyway. She set the shirt back and put a hand on his shoulder. "Can't I get at least a hint? I'd be of more use then."

Dash blushed. Oh, god, Dash actually blushed. This guy must be something special. Or maybe Dash really was just the closet romantic Star used to joke he was. Either way, now Star had to know. "Oh come on," she said with an impish grin, "Just one itty, bitty, tiny hint. It won't hurt. What's he into at least?"

"…I guess video games…"

"There you go! Well, if he's into games, we are so in the wrong store. Come on, there's a Game Depot on the third floor," she said, all but dragging Dash out of the store with her. Video games, huh? That knocked out a good third of the boys in their school. That gave her another thought. "Hey, this kid goes to our school right? He's not like…some summer camp fling, right?"

Dash made a face. "Star. Are you trying to figure out who it is?"

"Yes." No use trying to hide it. Dash was the one who dragged her out, Star was just making sure she enjoyed herself. Oh and this was enjoyable. Dash Baxter, star everything, has a secret boyfriend—a secret boyfriend who apparently likes video games. Detective Star was on the case!

Dash sighed, shaking his head. "Fine, whatever, just try to figure it out then! It's not all that interesting. But for your information, yes, he does go to our school." Star grinned, pleased with herself.

Game Depot was one of those stores that Star walked by all of the time, but never bothered to go in. Now she remembered why. Walls of games, crowded aisles, lots of people. Ugh. Lame. Luckily, crowds parted for Dash.

Walking right to the simulation games section, Dash picked up one and read the back, Star peeking around him to look. 'Captain Taylor's Moon Farming Experience 3D X-Treme'.

What. The. Heck?

"So…he likes farming?" Maybe he's an Ag kid?

"What? No. I don't think he even knows the first thing about farming. But…he likes…space, I think. Like… astronauts," Dash explained, putting the game back, looking a little overwhelmed. "I guess that isn't the best game. Er," he picked up another one, this one about raising gerbils on Mars to fight swarms of alien ants. Who is coming up with these games? "Yeah, I don't really know what I'm doing."

Star huffed, crossing her arms. Oh, what would her friends do without her? Reaching out, she suddenly grabbed the back of some poor smuck's shirt. "You. Random guy. We're looking for a game a space nut would like. Get on it." The boy nodded his head quickly, face bright rest, as he rushed off, returning with a stack of games not even ten seconds later. Nice. Dash had to admire Star for her ability to get things done.

Star motioned for Dash to take the boxes before she all but ignored the poor guy, leaving him to sulk away, dejected. Dash momentarily wondered if he even worked at the store before looking through the games.

Wow. Now these seemed like something he would like. He picked up the biggest one and turned the box over in his hands. Lots of realistic space shooting action, the box promised, whatever that meant. The graphics looked really great, too. The flora looked so realistic Dash wondered if they might be real kinds of plants, bringing the box closer to his face so he could inspect the detail. 'Spacenauts Odyssey' was such a popular game that even Dash had head of it, recalled seeing a barrage of commercials for it not too long ago. Not to mention, it sounded like something a certain someone had mentioned incessantly for weeks on end. Dash suddenly felt embarrassed thinking he had thought clothes would have been a good gift. A video game was much more appropriate.

"Here," Star said, holding out a second box. Apparently, it was a 3D visor. When Dash looked confused, she tapped the side of the box. "The box says that you should play it with these for added effects. Nerds love this sort of thing, right?"

"Hey, he is not a nerd!" Dash defended, bristling instinctively.

Star just quirked a brow. Dash sighed. Lame t-shirts, affinity for science and video games, half coherent, rambling phone conversations about ghosts in the middle of the night… ok, maybe it was time Dash admitted a few things to himself about the guy he was secretly dating.

"Fine, fine. I guess he is kind of a nerd. But, I don't know. He's got a cool side," he mumbled, playing with the edge of the box.

Star hummed lightly. It wasn't often that Dash would let his guard down long enough to let his more thoughtful side show. It was a nice change, though Star wasn't sure how she felt about the fact it was some unknown guy that had inspired this change in Dash. If Dash was going to go off and date some guy, he should have at least had the decency to date someone Star and the others already approved of. Bringing in an outsider was totally going to ruin the dynamics. Social order was a delicate beast and Dash better be confident in what he was doing because there was a good chance that, if handled improperly, the whole thing could blow up in his face. But for now, Dash needed a friend more than he needed a refresher course on the precarious, capricious nature of high school clique mentality. "Well, I guess it wouldn't be impossible for a video game nerd to be cool, too." Bluh, it felt weird even saying something like that. "I mean, the two aren't mutually exclusive, I guess. Some of these games actually look pretty fun."

Dash perked up. "Do you really mean that?"

"Er, most of it. The important parts, yeah."

Dash just laughed, giving Star a rough half-hug. "Thanks! See, I knew you would be good with all this gift-buying junk!"

Star just gasped out as she tried to worm her way out of the hug/choke hold.

OoOoOoOoOo

When Monday morning arrived, it was as if nothing had happened the previous Friday. Star felt a little ashamed that she was even expecting a change. Dash was still the same person he had always been. It wasn't as if the revelation would mean he would suddenly come to school dressed in flamboyant dance clothes. Really, nothing had changed.

Dash and Kwan were picking on the losers, Paulina was chatting about the trip to the beach she had gone on with her family that weekend. Star fell into usual routines, but found herself looking at the boys around her more than usual, intently running through a check list. She hadn't given up. She would figure out who it was Dash was seeing if it was the last thing she d-

Ugh. Danny Fenton. When had he walked over to their lunch table? He had been rather brave lately, actually coming up to her group of friends unprompted several times a week now. Mostly he would just pick a fight with Dash and then leave, but it still annoyed her. She supposed he had a good enough reason, though. Dash often would go into dork territory to pick on him too. So, an eye for a geeky eye, she guessed.

"Dash," Danny responded. Star inwardly groaned, pulling out her compact, fixing her lipstick. He looked so cocky. How annoying.

"Fenton," Dash sneered, standing up, his chest puffing out to make him look even bigger. If it were any other dork, he would have had the brains to turn tail and run, but instead, Danny just smirked.

He then did something that confused everyone. Everyone except for Dash. And Star. He held out a hand held, showing Dash the screen. 'Spacenauts Odyssey', high score four million, almost forty hours played. Star's eyes widened slightly as she realized what it was she was looking at. Dash's scowl broke into a smile for a fraction of a second, just long enough for Star to see, before he grabbed a hold of Danny's shoulders. He spun Danny around and pushed him away roughly. "Why would I care about your dork game, weirdo! Get out of here, Fenton, before I stuff you in a locker!"

And just like that, Dash returned to his conversation with Kwan and Danny Fenton returned to his own, equally confused looking group of friends.

Within minutes, the two groups were carrying on their normal conversations, the weird scene between Danny and Dash completely forgotten. Forgotten, that is, for everyone except for Star. She was watching Dash intently now and saw as he tossed Danny and his group side long glances. She saw Danny doing the same in return when he thought his own friends weren't looking.

Star suddenly sighed, annoyed and rested her chin on her laced fingers. Such. Losers. Didn't they know secret relationships were so last century?

OoOoOoOoOo

"You really shouldn't have come up like that all of a sudden…" Dash muttered, all but whispering as he ducked into the janitor's closet. There was only one flickering light bulb and he could hardly see anything, but he knew who was in there.

"Sorry. I just," Danny tried before suddenly hugging Dash. "This game! Do you have any idea how long I've been wanting to play it? The freaking game costs nearly a hundred dollars by itself, not to mention the visor! How did you know?"

Dash blushed, suddenly thankful for the dimness. He wrapped his arms around Danny, pulling him closer. "Lucky guess. Also, you were going on about it for a few weeks."

Danny turned his head away, resting his cheek against Dash's chest. "…So you were paying attention. I thought you'd fallen asleep on the other line."

Oh, he had. At least, some night. Danny always called him after midnight and between school and sports, Dash was exhausted. Exhausted, but always wanting to listen to Danny, even if he didn't understand most of what he would go on about. Just listening to Danny going on about something excited at length was worth the bags under his eyes the following morning. Thank god for unlimited minutes. "No way. I like listening to you talk about all this space junk. I just figured this would be a good fit."

"You… thought to get this for me by yourself?" Danny asked, obviously growing suspicious. Danny knew that Dash could be a bit of a romantic at heart, what with his taste in movies, but, now that he thought about it, buying gifts was never Dash's forte. He remembered his birthday. The clothes Dash had bought him were nice, but Danny was still a kid! He could get excited about getting fancy, expensive clothes when he was an old man of thirty or something!

From the way Dash shifted form one foot to the other, it was obvious that Danny had hit the nail right on the head. "Well, ok, maybe not completely by myself," Dash confessed, "I might have asked Star to help me."

Danny pulled away now, visibly tensing. "You told Star about us? She's probably already told Paulina!" No, no, no, this was not how he had planned to tell Sam and Tucker!

"No! She didn't, I mean, I didn't really tell her about us. She knows I'm seeing someone, but she doesn't realize it's you. At least, she didn't on Friday."

"You saying she knows now?"

Dash gave him a wry smile. "I'm saying you were acting pretty weird at lunch. Even by your standards."

Danny crossed his arms as he leaned back against the shelves. "You could have said it was someone's birthday…"

"I could have. But I don't like keeping this from my friends. I'm sure you don't either."

Danny watched Dash for a moment before reaching a hand out, patting his shoulder. They both relaxed as the tension faded from the air. "Yeah. It sucks. I mean, I guess there's no real reason for all this secrecy. Really, how bad can their reactions be?"

OoOoOoOoOo

Wednesday marked a strange day at the school. In the middle of lunch, Danny and his two friends suddenly walked towards the popular table. Sam and Tucker were looking antsy, one looked ready to fight, the other looked ready to run. The popular kids just looked shocked.

"Fenton," Dash said, the first to speak. The whole cafeteria around them was silent. Even the adults were quiet, watching the scene unfold. The way Dash said that name was different. He wasn't scowling. He wasn't sneering. He wasn't making fun of him. He was smiling. It was a genuine greeting.

"Hey Dash," Danny responded, with a grin as he sat down across the table form Dash, holding out a bag of chips. "Want one?"

Dash grabbed a chip and put it into his mouth before grabbing a few more. Danny just rolled his eyes and gave up the whole bag. Star glanced over at Sam and Tucker. "You two going to sit down or what?" Sam and Tucker sat down, their arms to their sides, looking like they had just been grabbed and taken into enemy territory.

Wow. Awkward. Star glanced over at Dash. And Danny. They looked happier than they had in a while. Dash was hunched over the hand held, tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth as he focused on the game, smashing the buttons for all he was worth while Danny leaned over the table, practically yelling out his unprompted backseat advice. "No! No! Watch out for the alien spit balls! Dodge! Dodge! Roll! Dodge roll! Now, swoop! Yes! Yes! NO!" And then, when Dash managed to finish level one by himself, down to his last life, Danny threw his arms around him. "Yes! We did it!" From the way Dash squirmed, trying to get out of the vice-like grip Danny had around his neck, Danny wasn't the push off he seemed at first.

OoOoOoOoOo

Despite what everyone initially suspected, the delicate social order of the high school was far from destroyed by Dash and Danny's somewhat unexpected union. After a few days, the two groups separated once more and the other students found new topics of conversation.

The only change was that every once in a while, Danny, Sam, and Tucker would sit with Dash and his friends for a nice, if a bit awkward, lunch.


	2. To Polite to Punch Them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for any OOC-ness! UoU I tried my best to keep these two IC as much as possible, all things considered!

"If they drag me shopping one more time I'm going to scream and drop kick an ice cream truck!" Danny Fenton all but screamed as he cornered Dash in the secluded locker room after practice.

"Ah, who?" was all Dash managed to blurt out as he slipped his jacket on. Also, what was that about an ice cream truck?

"Don't pretend like you don't know, like you don't..." Danny floundered, flustered and frustrated, "don't see them scheming like scheming...schemers!"

Dash quirked a brow as he slowly grabbed his backpack, not entirely sure if sudden movements were a wise idea or not. "Are you talking about Star and Paulina? I thought they liked you. They talk about you a lot."

Danny sighed loudly and flopped down on the metal bench, deflating. "Think about it. What is it they normally say about me?" Dash sat down next to Danny as he thought back.

A few weeks ago, they normally would have just commented on what dorks Danny and his friends were but after Dash, without asking for any opinions, all but gave Danny an open invitation to their lunch table and silently challenged anyone to say anything about it, any Danny-related conversation had changed...

They went from wondering if Danny knew how to act like a normal human being to wondering if Danny could help them pick out the best tops to go with their favorite shoes or if he knew any good hair stylists or if he knew how they could deal with their respective boy troubles.

Suddenly it clicked.

No wonder Danny was acting so irrationally pissed off. It wasn't irrational at all. "Oh. Oooh. They think you're like that."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Yeah. They do. I can't believe I'm saying this, but they have got to stop watching so much television! I've been really nice about it up until now because they're your friends, but this is really getting on my nerves. Just because you and I...well...you know, it doesn't mean I'VE changed. Look at me!" Danny cried out, flailing his hands about, "Does it look like I know anything about modern fashion for girls? Jeans and t-Shirts, what's so wrong with that? Maybe, maybe, a nice shirt if the occasion calls for it. I mean, I don't think I dress like a complete slob, but I sure as heck don't read girl magazines and surf the web looking up videos on how to put on make up! Don't give me that look, I know what teenage girls do! "

Dash smiled as he reached out, putting an arm around Danny's shoulders, pulling him into a half hug. "I think you look pretty good." Danny huffed but couldn't help the small smile that crept onto his face. Dash would never tell him to his face, but he knew Danny could be a bit vain about his looks if he got him at just the right moment. Dash was learning.

"Well, that's because we have similar tastes," Danny muttered, subtly leaning against Dash. He wasn't much for public displays of affection, but they were alone now. "But don't think I'm not still annoyed with them."

Dash nodded his head. "Listen, I get it. I'll talk to them and I'll get them to back off. Unless they want to, I don't know, watch ghost movies or whatever it is you like to do." He pulled Danny closer just a bit, resting his cheek on the top of his head.

"You have no idea..." Danny trailed off. A pang of guilt ran through him as he glanced over at Dash. He had wanted to tell Dash about…that other part of him, he really did, but at the last moment, he just confessed a love for ghosts, in general. Dash had gotten him a stack of ghost movies a couple of months ago out of no where and had insisted they watch them together. Danny was curious if Dash could handle some of the movies he had bought. Some of them scared even Danny and he faced ghosts in real life.

For now, he supposed it was alright. He was sure even Dash had secrets still. He gently rested his back against Dash's chest. Normally, the difference in build annoyed Danny, but there were times he didn't mind it so much. "But thanks. It means a lot to me that you understand."

Dash grinned. "Of course. I might not get why you do a lot of the things you do, but I get this. So... are you still mad?"

Danny stilled, having to think about it. No, he supposed he wasn't mad. Instead of a simple answer, he leaned up against Dash, hands resting on Dash's thigh to steady himself as he pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.

"Let's go grab some burgers."


	3. Private Displays of Affection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the King of Swagger Bishie lovers, my bro Cheese! Fluff is hard for me to write, but I hope you like it away. Again, if there are glaring moments of OOC-ness...ah...*spooky ghost voice* 'It's all an AU~'

When the front door of the Fenton residence opened, Dash ducked behind the large dumpster, clutching a grocery bag of soda and microwavable popcorn. It was just Danny's sister taking out the trash. What was her name again? Jazz? Yeah, Dash was pretty sure that was her name.

He glanced down at his wristwatch. Six fifty-nine…and seven o'clock! Like clockwork, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, in the most offensively 80s wardrobe they could find (Dash assumed it had actually been easy to find as they were in all likelihood authentic, especially from the snug waistline around Mr. Fenton's middle), left the house right on time for their weekly date night.

Dash breathed a sigh of relief. He was thankful they were so reliably punctual. If Jazz was just as timely, she should be exiting the house in about ten minutes to meet up with some friends for a study group/ slumber party/ whatever it was high school girls did in large enough numbers.

He sat down on the least-dirty patch of concrete he could find and pulled the bag onto his lap, leaning back against the bring building. Digging through the non-descript brown paper bag, he pulled out a can of soda and opened it. He nursed it as he watched the minute hand on his wristwatch glide at an agonizingly slow pace. One minute…one minute thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three seconds past seven o'clock exactly. Thirty-five, thirty-six, thirty-seven.

Across the street he caught sight of a silhouette moving on the other side of the curtain. He smiled. It was Danny. It had to be, unless Jazz suddenly decided to cut her hair short since Friday. One day seemed hardly long enough to think over such a pretty huge decision. Nope, it was Danny. Knowing him, he probably spent all of Saturday lazing about the house, playing video games or surfing the net and only realized the time when his parents left. It was just the sort of person that Danny was, Dash supposed and he liked it that way. Danny wouldn't be Danny if he wasn't at least a little irresponsible.

Dash checked his watch once more. Seven ten. The front door opened and Jazz stepped out, bag in hang, just as a car pulled up to the house. Just on time. "And Danny, don't stay up too late, alright?"

"I won't! Jeez," Danny said as he stepped out of the house, waving good bye to his sister. Dash couldn't help but smile as he watched the scene. Those two were always bickering about something whenever he talked to Danny on the phone, but Dash could tell it was all just siblings being siblings. When it came right down to it, they would always be there for one another. Danny especially always spoke fondly about Jazz, even when he was being critical.

When Jazz and her friends took off down the road, Danny stayed outside a bit longer. He looked down the road expectantly before checking his watch. He tapped his feet for a moment before turning around and heading back inside. Dash decided to give it another minute or two in order to make his entrance seem more believable.

In retrospect, hiding out behind a dumpster until everyone had left, save for Danny, was probably completely unnecessary. It wasn't as if it was the first time he had ever been to the Fenton residence. That evening would be their fourth movie night, in fact. What kept Dash from proudly marching to that front door is that he had no idea what sort of things Danny's parents thought about him.

He and Danny had been together for a while, but as far as he was concerned, they had been rather private about the whole thing, until recently. Dash knew for sure his own parents didn't know a thing and he preferred it that way, at least for the time being.

But with his parents, the name Danny Fenton probably didn't mean a thing, aside from conjuring images of Danny's eccentric parents. On the other hand, Dash was fully away that before he and Danny began… dating, the two of them had an entirely different sort of relationship. How was he meant to address that?

He doubted he could just knock on their front door and say 'Hello there, Mr. Fenton, Mrs. Fenton, Jazz, I'm Dash. I may or may not have bullied your son Danny every day, but then I fell for him like a sack of potatoes in a letterman jacket and would like permission to date him now. Did I mention I'm the town's star athlete, by the way? Sooo…some weather we've been having.'

Other than sounding very unrealistic-Hollywood and trite, it also made the whole thing sound awful. The fact that Dash did used to bully Danny was not something that Dash was completely ignorant about. It was just standard high-school stuff. It wasn't anything to be proud of, but it was nature doing its thing. Dash had changed though. Not completely, of course. Danny was good at helping Dash ease up, but even he wasn't a miracle worker. But Dash was trying. He did still tease the other kids at school, but Danny would always be nearby to make sure things didn't get too out of hand anymore. Goodbye, shoving kids into trashcans and lockers. Danny was like the patron saint of nerds now, for being able to keep Dash and his crew in check.

It was a lot harder to maintain his Top Dog image without being able to just physically intimidate any nay-sayers, but Danny assured him it would be for the best and Dash liked Danny enough to give it a shot.

The change in Dash was subtle, but it was there and it was a start of something even more fundamental, but Dash was still worried it wouldn't be enough. Until he was sure that Danny's parents wouldn't kick him out on principle, he would continue to arrive conveniently late enough so as to not have to meet any member of the Fenton family who wasn't Danny.

Alright, Seven thirteen. That was sufficiently "fashionably late". Standing up, he sprayed himself lightly to get rid of any lingering dumpster scent. It was empty, but he wasn't going to take any chances. Taking a few deep breaths, he walked up to the front door and knocked. For a split second he panicked, feeling like he should have brought candy or flowers, but them immediately relaxing when he realized that the soda and junk food in the grocery bag he was carrying were more than enough to impress Danny. After all, he had made it a point to always get Danny's favorites.

When the door opened, Danny stood there, arms crossed, half-heartedly annoyed. "And just where have you been? You're late, dude! Again!"

"Thirteen minutes late."

Danny glanced back over his shoulder to a wall-mounted clock. "Fourteen."

"I'm only fourteen minutes late. But, hey, I brought all of the junk food you requested. That's gotta count for something," he said, playfully punching Danny's shoulder. The punch was more of a love tap, but Danny still rubbed his arm dramatically. Dash felt a rush of panic go through him. Did he really hurt him? He thought he'd pulled his punch! He relaxed only when Danny rolled his eyes and threw up his arms.

"Fine, fine! I forgive you, not hurry up and give me the pop corn. I'll go zap it, you put on a movie. I put the disks by the TV," he said, giving Dash a mischievous smirk. Of all the movie nights they had had up to that point, the movies had always been light hearted romcoms or slap stick comedies or brainless Hollywood action flicks. Dash had never been subjected to a proper horror movie before, at least not around Danny, and the possibilities made Danny feel giddy.

Dash was a jock, he was intimidating, but Danny knew he didn't have much of a stomach for scary things, ghosts in particular. Oh, this was going to be good.

Dash, however, seemed a bit oblivious to the look of glee on Danny's face. Kneeling by the television, he sorted through the movies, trying to pick the one that seemed the least likely to keep him up at night.

"Found one yet?" Dash almost screamed when he head Danny speak right next to his ear. "Oh man! You should have seen the look on your face!" Dash just grumbled as he picked one of the movies, Danny plucking the case from his hand. "Man, you practically jumped!"

"Well, what are you doing creeping up on me, you creep?" Dash asked, flopping down on the couch.

"Sorry. I couldn't resist. But, you better prepare yourself for a night of chills and spills!" Danny declared as the pre-movie copyright warnings played.

"What? Isn't that from a commercial to some theme park, though…?"

Danny paused, looking up as he thought. "Uh…that's right, huh?" He sat down next to Dash as he watched the first trailer start. Wow. Lame. Who would watch a movie about a Pomeranian who loses her owners during a move across the cou-oh god why does the dog have a machine gun?! Zombies!? Evil cults?! What is going on?! Danny leaned closer towards the television ever so slightly. "This is the best movie trailer I have ever seen," he declared.

Dash shook his head, taking out his cell phone, turning the sound down so it wouldn't disrupt their little "date".

The next few trailers weren't as exciting as the first one. One was for some historical drama with a lot of somber looking people dressed in stuffy Victorian outfits. There were a few high school romantic comedies, but they all looked the same. Boy or girl is new to the school. Boy grins a lot and tries to establish himself in the school hierarchy. Girl giggles a lot and trips over nothing. It was then that Danny's attention began to wander to Dash sitting next to him. When he didn't think Dash was paying attention, he scooted a little closer to him, legs pressed against each other.

Their previous movie nights had been platonic affairs save for a peck on the cheek Dash would give him before quickly absconding down the dark street. Ever since they had all but revealed their relationship to the school, however, Danny had become more aware of the expectations that were on them. It wasn't in either Danny or Dash to be overly public about their relationship, but if they didn't, people would start to talk. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad to be a little more affectionate if only so people would stop giving them that look.

The best way to start was to start being a bit more affectionate when they were in private. Or so various Internet message boards would have him believe. Danny thought back to all of the advice he had had ever heard about movie dates. The popcorn was finishing up. They were going to watch a scary movie. The lights were off. All that was left was for him to put his arm around…Ah.

In that moment Danny realized the fatal flaw of his otherwise flawless plan: Dash was taller than him. There was no way that Danny could put an arm around his shoulders naturally. But Danny wasn't one to give up easily. He shifted from one side of his body to the other, trying to figure out some way to put an arm around Dash that would seem cool and uncalculated.

It was then that the microwave beeped, indicating that the popcorn was ready. Dash stood up. "I'll get it," he said, walking into the kitchen to get the popcorn. Danny listened to Dash hunting through the cabinets for a bowl as he leaned his head back against the couch. This sucked. He really should have taken account that Dash was a lot bigger than he was. His plan was all but ruined now.

Dashed returned a minute later with a large bowl of hot, buttery popcorn, with extra butter. "Sorry, it took so long," he said, sitting next to Danny just as the movie started, setting the bowl in Danny's lap, "It took me a while to remember where you keep your bowls." He then put his arm around Danny's shoulder as if it were the easiest thing in the world, his attention completely on the moment.

Danny was thankful that the lights were off as he could feel a blush creeping along his cheeks. Some of it was from the fact that this was the longest time he and Dash had been in direct contact. Some of it was from annoyance that he was the short one in the relationship. He settled against Dash as he grabbed a fistful of popcorn and casually tossed it back at Dash's face. Dash plucked one of the kernels out of his hair and tossed it at Danny. For the rest of the night, the two watched the horror movies and tossed popcorn at one another.

Hours later, Danny woke up with a start, his cell phone vibrating in his pocket. The credits of the last movie were running and beside him, Dash was dozing soundly. Danny smiled and settled against Dash's chest to more comfortably scroll through his text messages. Huh, one from Sam and… about… fifteen from Tucker, Danny thought to himself as he glanced through them quickly.

They just wanted to talk to him. Or more, specifically, Sam really wanted to talk to him and Tucker was insisting he get in contact with her "or else". Danny was going to assume that was less of a vague threat towards him and more of a sign there was a vague threat hanging over Tucker's head instead.

'Get in touch with Sam, or else…she is going to seriously compromise my physical composition, man!'

Danny turned off his phone. Eh, tomorrow was Sunday. He was supposed to meet up with them anyway. A few more hours wouldn't make a difference either way.

Almost as if right on script, Dash began to groan, waking up. He sat up a little straighter when he realized he had drifted off to sleep. "Oh, wow, sorry..." he muttered before wiping at the top of Danny's head. "Er…for falling asleep and…drooling on you a bit."

"Oh, ew," Danny groaned, reaching up to wipe at his head, but not feeling any wet patches. Slowly, Dash began to chuckle.

"Just joking, dude. As if I would drool all over you. Gross," Dash laughed, settling back into the couch, his arm around Danny's shoulders.

Danny, reached up and put a hand on Dash's arm, causing him to flinch and attempt to pull his arm back. "Sorry, was that too sudden? I don't want things to get weird between us...that would be lame, you know?" He sounded half panicked, which just made Danny snort a bit. Tightening his grip in an attempt to keep Dash calm, he spoke, changing the subject completely. "You know what I could go for? Pizza. No, tacos. Burgers. Thai food. You know what? Let's order something. We've got loads of take-out menus if you're game, Dash."

He relaxed and looked thankful as he gently took Danny's hand, glancing away shyly for a moment. "You know, now that I think about it, I haven't had Chinese in a while."

Danny nodded his head in approve, but made no immediate move to leave the comfort of the couch and Dash's company. "Good. I've been wanting orange chicken and chow mein all day."


End file.
